It’s dead easy to list the most obvious influences of Scotland’s Teenage Fanclub. He’s read them so often, founding band member Norman Blake can rattle them off at the drop of a tam: Big Star, Byrds, Beach Boys. Pigeonholing the Fanclub’s melodic-yet-rocking sound becomes a little more dicey. Though most of the cornerstones of power pop—Posies, Flamin’ Groovies, Matthew Sweet, Velvet Crush, Tommy Keene, Alex Chilton—don’t think much of the label, it seems to be the only one that’s stuck. If they keep this up for another five years or so, Teenage Fanclub, which opened for business in the mid-’80s when Blake met fellow Scots Raymond McGinley and Gerard Love, might surpass the Groovies for career longevity, a career award that usually precedes only the obit in a band’s publicity dossier. And yet, the group’s new album, Shadows (Merge), is as vital as anything TFC has ever cut, adding fuel to the proposition that some artists come up with their best work after turning 40. Blake and Love will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with Blake.
Norman: I’ve been collecting Casio MT keyboards for about 20 years. They produced about 30 models, but to my mind their finest unit was the Casio MT-65. Portable, creamy plastic with orange and brown flashing (early ’80s), battery powered with tiny keys. If you’ve got fat fingers, forget about it. The piano sound does not sound like a piano. I have no idea what they modelled it after, but it’s so cool to hear those notes break up and sputter out after a couple of seconds. The organ sound is tough and gnarly when you crank up the volume, but it’s about 100 times lighter than a Farfisa Compact Duo, which makes it great for gigging and also means that you can play it on the bus when you’re on your way back from the show. These come up on eBay all the time. They can also be found at thrift stores and car boot sales, and they will cost you less than what you will pay for the batteries. Marry this with a delay pedal and start your own prog rock band.
Video after the jump.
